Janaki Kuruppu to WB AgriFin

Regional Development Bank Chairperson and Food Security Advisor Janaki Kuruppu was recently appointed to the global steering committee of World Bank's AgriFin.

AgriFin has been set up by the World Bank with the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support the activities to substantially increase financing for agriculture, particularly for smallholder farmers.

The international steering committee consists of eight members, two each representing the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and four other members from across the world with developing country experience.

She also holds the positions of advisor on food security to the Cabinet sub-committee on food security chaired by the President, Chairperson of Mother Sri Lanka Trust and a Director at the Colombo Dockyard Plc.

She joined the public sector in January 2008 in an advisory capacity to be able to make a direct contribution to nation building. She is currently spearheading some special projects which include strategic interventions into Food Security and Cost of Living Management, experimenting new agri-business models where tests supply chain interventions by governments, private sector links and partnerships with special focus on efficiency, yield and value addition of local produced agriculture products to ensure farmers' economic stability and long-term food security for the country.

She holds an MA in Applied Statistics and a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Missouri, USA and from the University of Colombo.

She is also a recipient of the All American Scholar Award, the US Achievement Academy Award and the Most Outstanding Sri Lankan Award 2010.